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<TITLE>Profile Editor</TITLE>
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<H2>Profile Editor</H2><br>
<img src="ProfileEditDialog.jpg" width="454" height="592" border="0" alt="" align="middle"><h3>The Basics</h3>
<p>In addition to parameters such as screen size and the
number of Crawlies to spawn, each profile contains a list of
Crawly "styles".  Every time a Crawly is spawned, a style
is randomly picked from the styles available in this profile.
These styles are listed in the table in the
middle of the dialog box.  Styles are added, copied, modified,
and deleted via the buttons below the table.  For more information
on the style-specific parameters, please see the 
<a href="StyleEditDialog.html">Style Editor</a> help.</p>
<h3>The Nitty-Gritty</h3>
<p>Here we will discuss the specifics of each parameter that is not
listed in the table.  For help with the table settings, please see
the help for the <a href="StyleEditDialog.html">Style Editor</a>.</p>
<ul><li><b>Width, Height</b> - These are the screen dimensions,
and required to be a power of 2, thus the drop-down
boxes.</li>
<li><b>Milliseconds Between Frames</b> - This parameter controls
the number of milliseconds to wait before <i>starting</i> the
next frame after the current frame is initiated.  In other
words, this is a lower bound on the rendering speed.  If it
takes your machine longer than the value of this parameter to
render each scene, the result will be dropped frames.  Smaller
values for this parameter can result in smoother animation,
if the machine can handle it.  The
maximum framerate can be calculated by dividing 1000
by the value of this parameter.  For example, for a value of
50, the maximum framerate will be 1000 / 50 = 20 frames per
second.</li>
<li><b>Max Number</b> - This parameter controls the maximum
number of Crawlies allowed on the screen at any given time.</li>
<li><b>Spawn Chance</b> - This is the percent chance a Crawly
will come into existance.</li>
<li><b>Turn Chance</b> - This is the percent chance that a Crawly
will change direction.</li>
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<h3>Performance</h3>
<p>The two parameters that affect performance the most are
the screen dimensions and the number of milliseconds between
frames.  If the screen saver seems jerky, try increasing the
number of milliseconds between frames and reducing the screen
dimensions.  Raw CPU power is part of the equation, but the
biggest bottleneck is the speed of your computer's front-side
bus.  For slower buses, reducing the dimensions of the
screen will have a huge effect.</p>
<h3>Where To Look For More Info</h3>
<p>For more help, feel free to visit us at
http://sites.google.com/site/idlescreenproject/, where
you can take advantage of the FAQS, Wiki, and user lists.</p>
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